Agababaev Tops Day 1c; Gofman and Karmatckii Advance
The final two starting days of 2019 PokerStars EPT Open Sochi RUB133,000 Main Event (~$2,040) have wrapped up and continued the strong turnout of the first flight at the stunning Casino Sochi in the mountain region of Krasnaya Polyana. Thanks to 204 entries on Day 1b and another 181 entries in the third and final flight, a total field of 853 entries has emerged thus far.
It is not the final number yet as players still have the option to enter for the first time or re-enter the competition until the cards go back in the air for Day 2 at noon local time on Friday, October 11th, 2019, and will receive 30,000 in chips at returning blinds of 800-1,600 with a big blind ante of 1,600.
The remaining two starting days featured 10 levels of 30 minutes each and Day 1b saw 103 survivors with two runaway chip leaders in Aleksandr Leonov (265,300) and Sergey Efimov (221,000). Several well-known local players claimed an above-average stack to their names such as Nikolay Fal (114,200), Dmitriy Ponomarev (101,200), Mikhail Zamyatin (88,800), Maxim Panyak (83,400), and Vahe Martirosyan (77,100).
For PokerStars ambassador Fatima Moreira De Melo, the early stages were without any major action and the former Dutch hockey international scored a late double up in the penultimate level of the night. She ultimately advanced with a stack of 53,500 and will join fellow ambassador Chris Moneymaker in the Day 2 field. Moreira De Melo was also interviewed by Poker Club Management and you can watch the video below.
Who else made it through to Day 2 in the early evening? Daniil Kiselev (59,800), Konstantin Puchkov (55,100), Denis Strebkov (45,800), 2011 EPT San Remo champion Andrey Pateychuk (41,400) and Simon Burns (28,100) avoided the third and final starting day.
As soon as the chips were bagged and tagged in the Ballroom, the action commenced in the Karaoke poker room and a very similar field size emerged on Day 1c. There were 161 unique players who purchased 20 re-entries in their hopes to run up a decent stack for the flagship event of the festival.
There was no massive chip leader this time as several players were gunning or the top spot. A rush of late eliminations on his table vaulted Georgiy Agababaev into the Day 1c lead with a stack of 159,200 as he edged past Aleksandr Orlov (154,400) and Emin Mugulov (146,000). Especially Orlov went on a hot streak late on to knock out several players while enjoying some drinks the Russian way.
Among the notables to make it through the final starting day were Artur Osipov (123,000), Andrey Malyshev (116,300), Gleb Tremzin (105,000), Aleksandr Gofman (103,600), Dmitrii Sukhorukov (72,200), Gerald Karlic (64,400), and EPT 2018 Sochi Main Event champion Arsenii Karmatckii (50,900).
Dmitry Gromov needed a second bullet to punch his ticket for Day 2 as most of his initial stack vanished when he ran into quads treys. He made it through with 43,100 and has some work at the tables ahead, which also applies for Garik Tamasyan (36,800), online crusher Laurynas Levinskas (36,200), Aleksandr Merzvhinskiy (23,600), and Roman Korenev (22,000).
The list of notable casualties on Day 1c includes Viktor Khodorenko, Andrey Bondar, Denis Timofeev, Terry Gonzaga and WSOP bracelet winner Nikita Luther to name just a few.
With all three starting flights now completed, at least 363 players will return to their seats in the Ballroom and Karaoke poker room to chase a portion of the prize pool. The level duration returns to 60 minutes each and it is expected that the money bubble will burst.
Another highlight of the festival awaits as of 8 p.m. local time with Day 1a of the RUB10,500 "Moneymaker's Road to PSPC" event which awards a Platinum Pass worth �26,000 for the 2020 PokerStars Players NL Hold'em Championship (PSPC) in Barcelona in addition to the first-place prize.
The PokerNews live reporting team will be on the floor to provide all the action from Sochi until a championis crowned in the days to come.